


Second chances

by backtospawn



Category: RWBY
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-15
Updated: 2016-11-21
Packaged: 2018-08-31 02:44:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8560306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/backtospawn/pseuds/backtospawn
Summary: This is the story of Team CRDL from the events at the battle of Beacon and transferring to Haven where they try to become better Huntsmen





	1. The Vytal Festival finale

**Author's Note:**

> This is intended to be a short story, about 5 or 6 chapters max  
> I wanted to get some experience before writing a way longer story I have planned for Weiss so here have some CRDL

"And then he screamed: _That's a big Ursa!_ " Finished Cardin while Eve laughed.

He was at the Crow Bar with her... _friend_ Eve. This was the second time they met. They were acquainted after his first fight at the Vytal festival. She asked him for an autograph and coffee and he was pleased to go with her, even though he knew his team would be making fun of him later. She was dark haired and almost 2 heads shorter than him even though she was 2 years older. She was a reporter and was doing interviews at the team leaders from the Vytal Festival first round. Cardin was disappointed when he found out she just wanted an interview, but at the end of their first meeting she asked to meet him again... to _hang out_.

All in all Cardin considered this their first date. Eve was telling him about her role model, Lisa Lavender. Cardin was lost looking into her green eyes that were shining brightly as she talked about the best reporter in Vale.

"They are selecting the fighters now" Cardin was confused until he realized she was talking about the singles round. He looked at the monitor and saw the first combatant... Penny Polendina. "Yes, I love how she fights" said Eve before quickly looking back at Cardin. "Sorry, I didn't mean..."

"No, it's fine" Cardin replied. "She is a good fighter, Russel and Sky never had a chance"

Cardin was smiling but inside he felt hurt. They hadn't trained enough, he knew it was his fault. As team leader he should have force his team to practice, make strategies and plans, pay attention in class and research their opponents. Sky and Russel lost interest when they saw the pictures of Penny's team. "They look weak" is what they said.

"Pyrrha Nikos oh my god, this is going to be such a great fight" Eve was watching the screen intently oblivious to Cardin's internal monologue

"Of fuc... course" muttered Cardin swallowing his curse

Pyrrha the girl that obliterated all members of CRDL at the same time... by herself, without getting hit once or breaking a sweat. The prodigy, the genius. Always looking after Jaune for some reason. Images of team JNPR fighting team RWBY in the cafeteria flashed trough his mind. How could they be so strong. Even when playing they were a in a different level.

The fight was starting but Cardin was looking at Eve. Why did she go out with him? He was good looking yes but he didn't feel much like a winner. They barely won their first match and got obliterated in the doubles round. At first he thought that after Russel and Sky lost she would call him to cancel but here she was. Laughing at his lame stories and having a good time. Cardin downed what was left of his beer and asked the bartender for another.

_clash_ "oh gee darn it"

Glass breaking. Cardin looked at the bartender but he was staring at the screen wide-eyed

"What was that?!" Eve shouted while others at the bar gasped and shouted as well

Cardin looked at the screen and saw a mess of body parts scattered on the arena, it was odd, he instantly thought there would be blood. Then he saw the sparks from Penny's body while the audio changed to a female voice

"This is not a tragedy" the voice said "This was not an accident..."

"...Who do you think you can trust?"

After the woman stopped talking static was left on the screen. Eve was still staring but he quickly got his scroll out and called his team one by one but none answered. They were out in Vale probably at the basement bar they usually were at. It had crappy scroll reception. He turned to Eve.

"What's going on?" Cardin asked

But Eve was already on her scroll. "Yes... I'll be there in 5 minutes" She hung up "Grimm are attacking the city" Eve told him

"But that's impossible, we have the military, and the academy and..." Cardin was looking for reasons why this had to be nightmare

"I'm going to the CCT tower. They want me to make a broadcast." Eve continued with a scared look on her face

At this point Cardin stopped and took his scroll out again he typed something and said "I'll escort you there" _boom_

A huge metal locker crashed just outside the bar. Cardin got there and opened it. He retrieved his mace while thinking how lucky he was to have come with his armor. He just wanted to make a joke on Eve and act like it was another interview so he wore his combat outfit. Of course Eve had laughed it of before he even explained the joke, they liked the same kind of humor.

Eve had paid the bartender and followed him. Damn, he wanted to pay for the drinks but with the Grimm attacking Vale and the gruesome fight he completely forgot. They started walking quickly toward the CCT center. After a while Cardin took out his scroll to call Russel again. As he finished typing he heard a nearby growl.

A Beowolf appeared in the center of the street, right in front of them. Cardin dropped his scroll and charged at the Grimm. His maced sent it flying towards a wall. "Behind you!" Eve shouted. He turned and saw 4 Beowolfs had sneaked between him and Eve. Luckily they seemed focused on him so Eve was safe. He charged his mace with dust and made a swinging motion towards the Beowolfs still a few paces away from him.

Suddenly a huge fireball shot from his mace and impacted the rightmost Grimm. It was dead before it hit the ground but the other three charged in. He was a bit flushed, he wasn't used to fighting Grimm. This was the third time he ever encountered one face to face but he was focused on saving Eve so he charged as well. He struck the first one right in the head with a downward motion which replaced the head with his heavy mace, while the others were almost on him. Then he activated the dust on his mace again and a sudden explosion throw him back. The fireball had made the headless Grimm explode while stunning briefly the two remaining so he quickly dispatched one of them. Unfortunately the other was not stunned as long as he had thought and Cardin got hit with tremendous force and impacted the ground loudly a good ten meters away from the monster.

"No!" Eve screamed. At this the last Beowolf turned to her and run. Cardin struggled to his feet and quickly tried to throw another fireball at the Grimm but realized he was out of dust. He sprinted towards Eve, shouting at the Beowolf to get its attention. The beast won the race and bit Eve's shoulder. When Cardin's mace impacted its body from right to left it was with such force that the Grimm was split in half. Eve was covered in blood.

"Eve! Are you okay?" Screamed Cardin as he examined her shoulder. She was losing a lot of blood. He tore a piece of his shirt under his armor and started bandaging her. Suddenly he heard a rushing motion and turned around to see an Ursa charging him, he stumbled getting up and fell to the floor while the Ursa closed in.

And suddenly the Ursa went flying up into the air until it was way above the street and then fell, splashing against the ground. He turned around and saw Glynda Goodwitch. She lost no time to start giving orders "Mr. Winchester, if she is alive finish patching her up, I'll cover you" He did exactly that.

"We need to get her to a hospital" He said, despair in his face

"No. We need to go to the evacuation zone. We are to close to Beacon, Grimm are going towards there." Glynda explained. "There are doctors there. You carry her, I'll go with you."

He silently obeyed, eager to save Eve.

After 15 minutes and Glynda dispatching a couple dozen Grimm, they arrived at the evacuation zone and Cardin took Eve to a medical tent that had been set up. The doctors asked how she got the wound and how long ago, then dismissed him. Might as well, the tent was filled with the smell of blood and sounds of people breathing their last in agony.

“Qrow were are you” Said Glynda talking to her scroll. “Ok, I'll meet you there”

Then he saw his team. Dove had an arm sling on his right arm and his right leg was bandaged while Russel had a rushed looking bandage covering most of his head. They told him Sky was on the medical tent but he would be okay. Russel told Cardin how they had called him but he didn't pick up and Cardin suddenly realized his scroll was lying were he found the first pack of Beowolfs and shuddered. Apparently they managed to get here alive but they were all out of aura and were lucky to have made it in time. He heard a commotion behind him and saw Glynda going back outside the evacuation zone. Cardin told his team to evacuate and that he would wait until the wounded got evacuated first to follow.

He walked away in thought, how many people like Eve there might be out there, scared, alone, hurt... He couldn't just wait to be evacuated. He hadn't been the most noble of Huntsmen in training but still, he had to do something, he could save those people lives. He thought back at what would have happened if Glynda hadn't showed up when she did and a chill ran through his spine. He looked up and ran after Glynda.

"I'm coming with you" Cardin said when he cached up right outside the safe zone

Glynda looked him up and down. "Mr. Winchester, are you sure you don't want to wait for evacuation with your team? If you come with me things could end up badly for you"

"I'm useless in there" He said pointing back at the makeshift refugee camp. "But I can still fight. You are going to save people right? I want to help" Cardin answered honestly

Glynda smiled "Very well Cardin, we are going towards Beacon but not to close." She had never called him by his first name before, her smile dropped as she added "Anyone within half a mile on the school is probably dead already"


	2. Travel plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the battle at Beacon, team CRDL plans what to do next

"How is the arm Dove?" asked Russel.  
Russel, Dove and Cardin where at Russel’s room in the hospital. It had been almost 24 hours since the match between Pyrrha and Penny had started.  
"Fine, the doctor said nothing's broken. Almost doesn't hurt anymore. What about your face?" asked Dove.  
"I'll have some nasty scars" said Russel with a couple of strips of gauze diagonally over his face on the right side "That ugly Beowolf scratched me good."  
Sky entered the room with a crutch.  
"What about you?" asked Russel.  
"Fine, I'll be running by tomorrow" Sky answered as he limped towards a chair.  
"Did you hear about CFVY?" asked Cardin.  
"Yep, heard Glynda allowed them to take part in the fighting" answered Dove.  
"What's bunnygirl going to do? Dance for the wolves?" said Sky as he started laughing.  
"So you're fine with sitting here while they risk their lives to take Beacon back" snapped Cardin "Aren't you embarrassed about what happened? We were useless. I hear JNPR and RWBY were in the middle of it, clearing the path to evacuate Amity Colosseum and then some more civilians in Vale. We didn't even defend ourselves."  
Sky, Russel and Dove looked at each other and then away.  
"Well, we didn't expect Grimm to…"  
"And you think they did? Admit it, we were weak. We didn't train enough and got people hurt because of it" said Cardin lowering his voice gradually. He sighted and added "I want to go to another academy and resume my training. If you want to stay here that's fine, I'll manage alone."  
"Wait, I'm going with you. I still want to become a Huntsman and it’s not like Beacon is going to be back anytime soon" said Russel  
"Me to, my family is close to the headmaster at Haven so we should try going to Mistral" added Sky  
"Don't leave me behind, I'm not letting bunnygirl save me" said Dove  
"How do we get there though?" asked Russel, everyone turned to Cardin and he smiled

**************

"I don't care about public opinion, we need help from the other kingdoms to take back Beacon. We can't do this alone" Glynda shouting could be heard through the door "No, I told you, we can't let the younger students join. I allowed CFVY because of their exceptional record but first and second year students are not ready for this"  
The voices went down to a mumble behind the tent door as team CRDL looked at each other in front of the command tent. A military-like camp in the middle of Vale. This was the main base of operations for the Huntsman and Huntresses that were attempting to retake Beacon. Long faces were the norm here as battle hardened teachers and students that had just come back carried around their heavy weapons back to their temporary barracks. The team leaders were coming towards the command tent, probably to make a report on Grimm activity.

Suddenly an old man in a suit came out of the tent, fists clenched and angry looking. He quickly got onto an armored car waiting by and left. Team CRDL entered the tent. It was a spartan and utilitarian tent. A desk with a couple of chairs in a corner and a table with a holographic representation of Vale in the middle. There were colored indicators of known Grimm areas as well as a perimeter separating Vale from the wilderness formerly known as Beacon.  
"Oh, team CRDL what are you doing here?" asked professor Goodwitch as she looked at a notebook on her desk. "I see, you had something important, we are short on time so go straight to the point please" she said looking tired but with a small smile on her face  
"We want passage to Mistral to enroll in Haven academy" said Cardin "we are not allowed to help here until we are properly trained, Sky's family knows Haven's headmaster and is confident they'll let us in" Cardin kept going, thinking he would only get one chance to convince her "We have talked about it and if we can't fly there then we'll walk there ourselves."  
Glynda's smile vanished as she looked them up "You are not even healed yet, are you sure you want to wander around Remnant like that?" She asked looking at Dove's arm sling and Sky's crutch  
"We are fine" said Sky letting his crutch fall and taking a couple of careful steps before throwing his arms up like a gymnast after landing.  
Glynda chuckled before saying "If you are sure about this I can arrange you to be on an airship. Tomorrow at 11AM. They'll leave without you if you're late. And, kids, please don't waste this opportunity"  
"Thank you ma'am" said Cardin as he gave Sky back his crutch and added "this time we'll do things right"

**************

The next morning Cardin found himself standing in front of room 306 walking up to the door to knock and heard muffled voices on the other side. He stopped and turned around, walked back a couple steps and straightened his jacket. He was his best clothes which amounted to jeans and a gray t-shirt with a Beowolf in it and the words "BAD WOLF" under it, covered by a brown leather jacket. He went back to the door and knocked.  
"Is it already time for the nurse to be back" a young male voice said  
"Come in" said a deeper voice.  
"Sorry to intrude, my name is Cardin Winchester, I am..." Cardin hesitated, what was he to them?  
"I see, the Huntress mentioned you. She said you saved Evergreen's life, thank you" said the deep voice.  
It belonged to a 50 something man sitting in a chair by the bed, Cardin's eyes examined him for a second before his eyes where drawn to the bed. Eve was lying on the bed, covered by hospital white blankets and bandages all over her right shoulder. She had her eyes closed and was hooked up to several machines. Cardin didn't know the details but the way the doctor had acted, he didn't think she would wake up.  
"Bullshit dad. It's his fault she got hurt. He was supposed to protect her" Cardin turned around to locate the young man voice. The owner was standing up near the far wall opposite to the bed. Green eyes were staring right at him anger boiling inside him"  
"You know that's not true. He is not a Huntsman yet, he wasn't ready for what happened. No one was" the older man replied. The young man's eyes suddenly started watering, he turned around and stormed out of the room. "Sorry about that" he continued "My son just wants to blame someone for hurting his sister"  
"That's okay Mr. Gren, I... I should have done more, if I'd been stronger or faster or... I'm sorry" Cardin said, voice breaking toward the end  
"I'm sure you did the best you could" Eve's father said. "The doctors say she is not getting worse" he added turning towards the bed "but she isn't improving either, they don't know when she will wake up"

Cardin looked at him, then stared at the bed, sadness flooding him. After almost half a minute he said: "When she wakes up, can you give her this?" as he pulled an envelope from his pocket "I'm leaving for Mistral. The government doesn't want help from kids who didn't complete their first year and honestly, we were not exactly the best anyway. So my team and I will go to Haven academy to complete our training so, next time, we can save everyone."  
Mr. Gren stretched his arm and picked up the envelope. "Of course kid, she will be reporting on your exploits sooner than you think"  
Cardin eyes brightened for a second as he smiled towards Eve "Thank you Mr. Gren. Eve, wake up soon okay? I'll be back before you know it." He turned around with watery eyes toward the door, as he opened it he added "Next time I'll pay for the drinks, promise. Goodbye Mr. Gren"

**************

"What the hell Dove, we warned you to be punctual" Russel said as his scroll jumped from 10:58 to 10:59 "hurry up"  
CRDL was the last team to get into the airship and everyone was already seated. He spotted the team that fought team RWBY near the back chatting excitedly albeit with somber faces. They had to take the last seats available near the front.  
"What are we nerds?" asked Dove "Why do we have to seat here?"  
Russel made a quick jab at Dove's arm "Shut up, we are lucky to have seats at all. It's not like they intended on bringing back more people than they brought"  
"Actually, we are not, those are the seats of team DISY... They didn't make it." Said a man wearing a brown hat with green feathers and a leather vest with what looked like a falconry glove in his right hand. "They were ambushed between Atlas robots and the White Fang while helping evacuate "your" people." He added, anger in his voice.  
"It's not our fault this happened D'Artagnan" Cardin said, putting himself between the man and his team and standing a good 6 inches above the stranger his shoulder almost twice as wide, suddenly aware of the silence in the ship.  
"Cardin, that's actually..." Russel was interrupted as Cardin was swiftly brought to his knees with a movement faster than the eye could follow from the smaller man.  
"I meant while they evacuated your team of losers" he then let go of Cardin's arm and leave to sit down with his team a few rows further back  
Nobody moved while team CRDL sat down and Cardin moved his wrist to alleviate the pain. Slowly the silence died as people went back to their conversations.  
"Sorry, tried to warn you. That was one of the finalists from the tournament. Team LILY I believe." Russel said quietly, not wanting to draw attention  
"I guess DISY was the team that helped us get to the evacuation zone. They were rad" said Sky  
"Fuck" cursed Cardin "This is not what we're supposed to be doing"  
A blinking light turned on indicating the airship was about to leave for Mistral.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Team DASY (daisy) Were killed shortly after helping Russel, Sky and Dove get to the evacuation.  
> Team LILY (fleur de liss>lily) because three musketeers which was the inspiration of one of the three finalist, the one that looks more likely to be from Mistral.  
> Gren is the scandinavian version of the Green surname.
> 
> Remember to ask me anything about the story, I'd like to clarify any inconsistencies there might be

**Author's Note:**

> And that's the Battle of Beacon I don't want to make a long ass chapter on random fighting without plot so next time will be the next morning+.


End file.
